The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-11-11
MY RESURRECTION PRANK
By GEORGE II. TAYLOR.

Of warm summer day in depressed
state of mind, occasoned partly by the
oppressive weather and partly by my
professional prospects. or rather. want
Of prospects. Having sown my wild
oats and obtained medical diploma,
| had settled down in the little country
town of W--to work up practice.
1t was very hard to leave the activities
of the city and the prankish life of a
student for the quiet of rural COM
munity and the sedateness requisite for
impressing the rural mind with the be-
lief that all medical skill was locked up
in the particular knowledge box car
ried on my shoulders But the little
town of W--,or that particular
section of it in which | had opened an
office, seemed to my friends and, there
fore, to me, the only spot on earth not
already pre-empted by member of
the medical profession. So there was,
awaiting q veriilcation Of the adage
that "all things come to those who
wait"
had come very near having a case
that morning. A strange young wo-
man had come to the leading hotel of
the town the day befor Q, had been taken
sick during the night and, as there
seemed to be nobody to guarantee the
payment of her bill in case she died,
my professional competitors appeared
willing that should have the job.
But the fates were agaist me, for as
[ assembled the stairs was told that
the young woman was dead and her
body had been turned over to the ten
der mercies of the town coroner and
undertaken Even then the coterie of
good and true" citizens picked up
around the bar-room door had viewed
the body" and retired to meet Mt some
indefinite period and declare that 1.-The
said person, to the jury unknown,
come to her death by some means to
the jury unknown" the pauper coffin
was in the room and the pauper hearse
stood at the door. had been little
dilatory in responding to the unex-
pected and very early morning call,
and / had lost the case. So turned
on the stairway and leisurely made my
way back to my office.
The busine of working up prac-
tice" in medicin will at times depress
the most sanguine temperament, and |
have said, having one OF those depressed
moods when Bonaparte Laguee. the
town undertaker's man. of-all work,
dropped in wearing very gruesoms
face and helped himself to chair con-
iident ally near me.
Sick, BonyP" | asked; for the young
man, though looking the very picture
of physical vigor, seemed at a loss how
to open conversation.
'Nawr' he answered. in tone of
strong disgust; ''only sick O. this
buryin' business, and O. that measly
small boss o. mine. Do you know what
ue BOHc du uOucE
No"
"Well,- you know the old woman
Myers THAT'S been dyin' 80 long of a
disease that none O. you medicine fell
lows could make outP'
Yes, died last night, believer"
Yes, an / let that worthless son O.
hers have coffin on tick an the boss
says he'll take the price of it out of
my wages. Now, it wasn't moth
ing better than cheap pauper coffin,
but / amt going to stand the loss ifmy
rich boss can't an he's going to have
that coffin back if have to dig for it.
I'm going over to the cemetery tonight
for il, an didn't know but you wan
ted good 'dissect' and would give me
hand. She'd make a stunnin' dis
sect, cause nobody knows what she
died of I'm little nervous about
goin over there alone, an / thought If
you'd help me get the coffin I'd help
you get the body
Here was a chance to chase away
melancholy, and hadn't had lark,
since l left college. If l was found
out it would destroy all hopes of prac-
tice in W. to be sure, but that didn' t
mean much. considering how slight a
fabric those hopes were bullt on any
way, and it would furnish me with a
reasonable excuse to my friends for
quitting the apparently barren field
they had selected for me. Besides,